Chapter 63: Northern Plateau
The sound of rain hitting the roof was noisy.
Chen Yuezhen turned on the camping light he found in the house, and the dim yellow light poured out, dispelling the darkness around him.
Shu Fu, who was lying on the ground, pulled down her mask and gasped for breath, but she still did not forget to look around the room she was in. Two rectangular rooms were connected in an L shape. Apart from the door they came in, this room only had a small window with iron bars on the right side of the door.
The walls here are dark and cold in color, and seem to be made of stainless steel. It looks like a house that has been converted and reinforced from containers. Although it looks cold, you feel particularly safe staying indoors.
There are quite a few shelves against the walls of this room, and on some of the shelves are several old-looking boxes. The camping lantern in Chen Yuezhen's hand was taken from one of them.
Chen Yuezhen turned on the light, took out an unopened bottle of coconut milk from her travel bag and placed it next to Shu Fu, who was still gasping for breath. Then, she took off the backpack that she had been carrying in front of her without having time to put it down, reached out and touched her head, as if silently praising her: Well done.
In this small town where supplies are scarce, a bottle of original coconut milk that has not expired is a rare item. She knows how valuable this kind of material is to Chen Fa and the others. Although she is not short of it, this is Chen Yuezhen's kindness, and she doesn't want to reject someone else's kindness.
So Shu Fu climbed up, half leaning against a shelf beside her, opened the can of coconut milk and drank it all in one breath. While drinking it, she was thinking that she would go down the mountain to get the "hidden" supply bag after Chen Fa was okay and the rain was lighter after dawn.
After drinking the coconut milk, Shu Fu felt a little stronger and hurried to help Chen Fa.
Chen Fa was still lying on the ground motionless. Chen Yuezhen had helped her take off her mask, raincoat and rain pants, took out a thermal blanket for camping from her travel bag and spread it aside, then carried her over.
Chen Yuezhen patted her wet cheek, trying to wake her up, but she seemed to be unconscious and did not respond at all.
Chen Yuezhen checked her pulse and heartbeat and found nothing abnormal.
Shu Fu also took out a bottle of Fengyoujing from her waist bag and applied it on Chen Fa's Ren Zhong and Taiyang Xue points, trying to stimulate her to wake up, but it was in vain.
"Did Fafa tell me what happened?" Chen Yuezhen was old and knew that her hearing was not as good as that of young people. When she was carrying her on her back and walking quickly, all she could hear was the noisy sound of rain. Even if Chen Fa said something on her back, she couldn't hear it.
Shu Fu recalled that when she was carrying her up the mountain, Chen Fa had reminded her in a faint voice: Be careful... your feet...
"Feet!" Shu Fu immediately moved and turned to take off Chen Fa's rain boots.
Chen Yuezhen also took the camping light and moved closer to Shu Fu to help her light up. Chen Fa's rain boots were different from hers and Chen Yuezhen's shoes. Shu Fu always wore waterproof boots that reached the middle of her calves, and Chen Yuezhen also wore rain boots, but they were higher, almost reaching the knees.
Among the three people, only Chen Fa was wearing shoes. Although they were sturdy waterproof rubber shoes, they only reached the ankles.
She was not wearing socks, and her rain pants had been taken off by Chen Yuezhen. She was wearing waterproof and sweat-wicking yoga pants underneath. After Shu Fu took off her rain boots, her feet and ankles were clearly exposed.
The two of them checked carefully and soon found a small bloody hole between Chen Fa's left ankle and calf. The wound was not big, but very deep.
It looked like he was bitten by something, or it would be more accurate to say he was stabbed by something.
"It shouldn't be a snake." Chen Yuezhen was the first to rule out the possibility of snake venom.
Shu Fu looked at the wound and felt a little strange. The wound was so deep, but she didn't bleed much.
She quickly took out a pair of extremely thin rubber gloves from her waist bag, reached out and touched Chen Fa's wound, and found that there was slippery and transparent mucus on the wound. It seemed that it was because of this mucus that not much blood flowed.
"What is this? Is it poisonous?" Shu Fu put his fingers close to the light to study them.
"Probably not. The color of her face and lips are normal." Chen Yuezhen said, and motioned Shu Fu to squeeze Chen Fa's wound.
Shu Fu carefully pressed her ankle and squeezed out some transparent mucus from her wound. This mucus seemed to have a hemostatic effect. After a while, when the mucus was squeezed out, blood slowly seeped out of the wound.
If the blood is bright red and has not turned black, it means the wound is not poisonous.
Chen Yuezhen guessed that this mucus might have some anesthetic effect, which led to her coma. She even thought that it was this thing that had caused the town to go missing without reason and without a sound before.
The two then checked their rain boots and waterproof boots separately, and sure enough, they found the same slippery mucus in almost the same position on the outside of the boots. However, both the rain boots and waterproof boots were very hard and thick. The thing had obviously attacked them as well, but failed.
But so far, everything is just speculation. They have no idea what bit or what plant pricked Chen Fa, and whether there will be any hidden dangers.
"This... could it be related to the patient?" Shu Fu was actually more worried that Chen Fa would develop a strange disease because of this.
"It shouldn't be." Chen Yuezhen shook his head. "The patient's case appeared in Lucheng two months ago. Someone was attacked and disappeared at night. It happened after he came to Hexi Town for a while. These are more like two different things..."
Of course, they must pay close attention to Chen Fa's physical condition in the future. If he really shows symptoms of a cold and fever, it will be difficult to say what will happen.
But on the other hand, if her health has always been good and she has not shown similar symptoms, then it can be confirmed that these are indeed two different things.
Shu Fu nodded and continued to squeeze the wound until all the mucus had drained out. Then he took off his gloves and took out a small medical kit from his large waterproof backpack, preparing to disinfect and bandage Chen Fa.
At the same time, Chen Yuezhen took the gloves that Shu Fu had dropped, carefully lowered them to his nose and smelled them.
Shu Fu noticed the change in her expression: "What's wrong, grandma?"
"It smells... a little fishy." She frowned, "It doesn't seem to be a plant, but..." She chose the most appropriate wording, "like some kind of creature."
**
Chen Fa was in a coma for the whole night and only woke up slowly the next morning.
There was a simple bed in the inner room of the container warehouse, as well as a simple table, chairs and cabinets. Inside the cabinets were a lot of supplies that were obviously for later use: a small amount of canned meat and fruit, biscuits and bread with a long shelf life, a small amount of bottled drinking water, a gas stove and a replacement gas bottle, camping lights and cooking utensils, a small amount of clothing...
There weren't many things, just some emergency supplies, little food but a lot of camping supplies, which were obviously prepared by Chen Fa early in the morning.
No one knew how she found this place, or when she decided to turn it into a backup house. It might have something to do with the fact that she had stayed in the town for a while. In any case, under the current circumstances, this was a very suitable place to take refuge and recuperate.
The night before, Shu Fu and Chen Yuezhen used the camping moisture-proof mats and thermal blankets to make two beds on the floor. There was no one nearby, the container house was well sealed, and the doors and windows were reinforced, so once they were closed and locked, there was no need to worry about anything breaking in at night.
So both of them had a good rest.
Chen Yuezhen fed Chen Fa some water, told her his speculation about the wound, and asked her how she felt now. If she felt uncomfortable anywhere, she must tell her and could not bear it, after all, she was stabbed by an unknown creature.
"It really does look like something like anesthetic, and the effect is very long. The half of my body that was stabbed is still numb and I can't move." Chen Fa's face looked okay, so when she said that she had no headache, fever, or cold symptoms, and that there were no problems elsewhere, Chen Yuezhen and Shu Fu both breathed a sigh of relief.
"Did you see what it was?" This was what Shu Fu couldn't understand the most. The narrow street was clearly surrounded by walls on both sides. There were three of them at the time, but after Chen Fa was attacked, none of them saw anything strange leave.
And what is that “click-click-click” sound?
"Could it be a bug?" Shu Fu made this guess because she had seen all kinds of bugs in the cave restaurant. Now it was spring, and insects were beginning to proliferate. It was very likely that due to frequent disasters, some bugs that they had never seen would appear.
It may not necessarily be a mutated insect. Perhaps it has never appeared in the city before and they have never seen it.
But the bloody hole on Chen Fa's foot was as thick as her little finger. If it weren't for the anesthetic-like mucus left by the thing that stabbed her, she might have screamed in pain on the spot.
What kind of insect could create such a large wound?
"Leech?" Shu Fu guessed while subconsciously stroking the goose bumps on his arms.
Chen Fa: ...
She was not afraid of rats, snakes, or other flying insects, but she was most afraid of this kind of insect that could bite the human body silently.
"It's not a leech. The wound caused by a leech bite is usually a triangular wound, and once it bites, it will not fall off without human intervention. It will also release venom, causing the wound to become red, swollen, itchy and painful, which is inconsistent with her current wound." Chen Yuezhen analyzed one by one.
Chen Yuezhen described it in too much detail, and even though she denied it, Chen Fa's face turned very bad when he heard it.
"Actually, if you want to find out, the best way is to go to that street again." Shu Fu said, walking towards the room outside the container and checking the weather outside through the small window next to the door.
The rain is not heavy now, so she can go down the mountain.
Chen Fa and Chen Yuezhen naturally disagreed. Firstly, they were afraid that she would be attacked by unknown creatures. Secondly, they didn't know whether Zhou Feng had noticed that Tang Ping was missing and would search for her in the town.
"It's okay. I won't go to the center of the town, but just to the north of the town. There's no one there. I'll go to the small street I went to yesterday to check. Don't worry, the previous disappearances all happened at night, which means that thing won't appear during the day. It's relatively safe during the day.
Besides, the place where I hid the supply bag before is quite close to here. I want to bring the supply bag here. We have to stay here for a few days, at least until Chen Fa recovers. Grandma is not fully recovered yet, so we can take care of her together. During this time, we can plan where to go next."
Of course, she didn't say anything else.
The most important thing is that she can't leave the water area of the town now...
Chen Fa wanted her to bring Tang Ping's stun gun, but Shu Fu said no.
"I have this." Shu Fu said, and then she took out a nail gun from her backpack, half-crouched there, and skillfully checked and repaired the nails. She used this method to tell them that she had the ability to protect herself, otherwise it would be impossible for her to come to Hexi Town alone.
The food she had put in her waterproof backpack had been used up over time, and now there were only simple clothes, medical supplies, and a tool kit in it, which she would carry with her because it was not heavy. She put the nail gun back into the backpack, put on her raincoat and rain pants, and then put the backpack in front of her.
Before leaving, Chen Fa reminded again: "Do you still recognize the road? Be careful, run if something happens, otherwise take your inflatable boat and leave here. The only team in town that has a boat is the Malaysian team, but they won't care about Zhou Feng's team. Once you get on the boat, Zhou Feng won't be able to catch up with you."
Shu Fu nodded, everything was ready, she put on her rain hat and mask, and quickly left the container house.
When you look back at the container house during the day, you will find that this is really a good place to take refuge, because the color of the container's outer wall is similar to the color of the mountain wall behind it, both are gray, and the col blocks most of the strong winds. The col is about seventy or eighty meters away from the water surface, which is a good shelter in all aspects.
The col opens to the northwest as a whole, and standing on it you can see the direction of the town from afar.
**
Shu Fu first returned to the north of the town along the same route. This was the area under the jurisdiction of Yang Can's team, but because no one lived nearby and several houses around had already been searched for supplies, Chen Fa told her that this area was not within the patrol range during the day.
More and more people in the team are getting sick, so the number of people available is gradually decreasing, and everyone has to be used in the most critical areas.
After running all night, the raincoat was of little use. The waterproof sportswear underneath Shu Fu got wet and dried again. Now, after going down the mountain, the rain seeped in through the gaps on the front buttons and the collar, making the inside wet again.
The waterproof boots on her feet were of very good quality, and she was wearing rain pants to keep the water out, so no water got in. However, the entire bottom of the boots was covered in mud, and it felt like the boots weighed two kilograms when she walked, and every step felt like she was walking with a weight.
Apart from that, everything went smoothly on the descent. She temporarily turned on her portable protective shield when she approached the small street she had walked through last night.
This place looks completely different during the day than at night. Without that dark and eerie atmosphere, it is just an ordinary, old town street with mottled walls on both sides, the ground paved with bluestone bricks, and a drainage ditch on the ground near the wall.
For example, if it rains every day, the ditch is always full, but it does not overflow because the water in it will drain into several nearby ponds at lower levels.
The ditch was very dirty and the water in it looked gray and black. She shone a flashlight into it but didn't find anything.
Perhaps because it was daytime, the thing had hidden itself again. She walked around a few times but didn't find it, so she turned back and walked out of town. She planned to find a place with trees and rocks before going up the mountain to take out the "hidden" waterproof travel bag.
In fact, because the three of them were now sheltering in a col, their needs had changed, so she not only had to find a place to "take out" the travel bag, but also had to slightly redistribute the supplies inside.
This kind of thing is not suitable to be done in public. Even without cameras, she would not feel safe. It happened that when she just came down the mountain, she saw a small forest near the water.
The wind and rain were not too strong today. Shu Fu walked briskly after leaving the town and soon arrived at the forest at the foot of the mountain. This area was closer to the water, which was a suitable place for her to hide supplies after going ashore. Even if Chen Fa himself was nearby, it would not be out of place for her to go out with her travel bag and boat bag.
She distributed the supplies quickly, and when she was about to leave, she suddenly heard a noisy sound coming from the water side of the woods.
She immediately looked back alertly. The forest was not big. She vaguely saw someone running towards the shore from the water end of the forest. The person was screaming in fear as he ran, as if a ghost was chasing him.
The noise soon grew louder, with more than one person shouting. Shu Fu quickly climbed up the rock, took out a telescope and looked towards the other side of the woods. She saw a ship on the water about to dock, which looked very much like the fishing boat she saw on her first day in Hexi Town.
The boat was shaking at the moment. It was about to reach the shore, but for some reason it was shaking and spinning in place. It seemed that someone was fighting on it, and the boat was about to capsize.
wrong!
No one is fighting!
Instead, there was someone on the boat waving a tool wildly to hit something. That thing was gray and would jump around. It would jump onto a person and bite him and would not let go, causing the person to bleed in an instant.
Several more people jumped into the water and escaped from the boat. The water here was very shallow and it was not a place for fishing boats to dock. They wailed and screamed in the water from time to time, as if they were bitten by something in the water, and then ran desperately towards the shore.
Behind them, a dozen gray creatures jumped out and chased them.
These creatures were slippery and scaly, with sharp fins on their backs, "legs" that could move on their abdomens, and long, thin tails with an even longer, sharp spine in the middle of the tail. They had large heads, bulging eyes, and even larger mouths, which kept opening and closing as they chased the men, revealing their sharp, slender teeth.
Shu Fu subconsciously exclaimed "Oh shit!", then quickly put away the telescope, jumped off the rock, picked up his travel bag and boat bag, and ran out of the woods.
She finally knew what attacked Chen Fa last night!
It's a fish!
It's a strange fish that grows legs and can jump onto the shore!
The author has something to say:
In reality, there are also fish that come ashore and bounce on the shore, such as flower river killifish, mudskippers, lungfish, etc.
Lungfish have lungs and can breathe through their lungs or through their gills, which means they are amphibians in a sense.
The setting here is a step further based on this type of fish~
The specific setting of the strange fish will be in the following text~
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
